Well, our Summer of Awesome was somewhat less-than this year, I’m afraid. Between me working a few days a week, to the kids getting older and not being as interested in things like the park and the pool, and getting tired of some of the same old museums, we spent a lot of time just sitting around in our jammies watching movies and playing Minecraft.
Which I suppose is its own kind of awesome, but somehow I still feel like I failed at summer. I was talking to Sir Monkeypants about this the other day and he didn’t really get it, but I’m hoping some of you do. I’ve read a lot of articles about how women, in particular, feel a lot of pressure to “do it all” at Christmas, to make the holidays perfect, and although I do a lot of stuff in December I rarely feel pressure – what gets done, gets done, and so be it. But I realized this year that I DO feel that kind of pressure about Summer – to deliver a Totally! Awesome! Summer! every year through planning and adventure and research, and this year I didn’t do that. The kids are happy enough, but I still feel like I should have done more.
Sir Monkeypants always takes the last week of the summer off so we can do a few fun things together as a family, and this year even that week was a total bust. We spent most of those days doing chores around the house while the kids had a Lord of the Rings movie marathon. Our big planned outing to Calypso Water Park was blown after an hour of fun when one kid got sick; our make-up activity of a day at Saunders Farm was super hot and missing a few activities that had already ended for the summer; and our one-last-blow-out attempt at a family swim ending in the parking lot when we found out the pool was closed for maintenance, as were the other two closest pools. GAH.
It felt like the world was against fun. Don’t hate the fun, world!
In any case, summer turns to fall and we are sliding fairly easily back into the routine. The kids all got at least one good friend in their classes and so are happy enough. I’m working away again at the home business. The roof is being redone and the garage door, which snapped a cable last week, is fixed.
We’re all hoping for a Fall of Pretty Good.
TurtleHead 
Hey, Lynn,
Iâm writing here rather than more publically on the site⦠Iâm sad to think you feel like the summer was a failure! And I do think you’re right to realize you’ve put a lot of pressure on yourself re: awesome-ness. It sounds like the kids were quite happy with a quieter agenda, which is probably age-appropriate, right?
Still, Iâm reminded that I found it tough to transition from being Head of Everything in Their Lives to more of a Driver to Activities That Did Not Involve Me.
Maybe that’s the phase you’re entering?
In any case, have you thought of asking them what they thought about their summer? My bet is they would say it was perfectly fine! And even if they didn’t say that, at least then you’d know for next year… except then they’ll be a year older and probably into yet a new phase!
Sigh⦠I have no words of wisdom, Iâm afraid, just wanted to commiserate with you a little.
Take a breather â youâre an awesome mother!
Love
L A
Seriously the kind of fun that is pinterest-worthy and all that requires work. WORK at planning and research and price comparing and…blah.
Summer used to be freedom of hanging out, watching the clouds in the sky, relaxing with a book, not planning things. Sure, maybe there’s a week of a planned activity or a trip or a visit, but really, if summers (for us) were like the rest of the year with colour-coordinated calendars and all that, I’d lose my mind.
Be happy you have happy. That’s my advice.
(Glad to see you’re back to posting!!)
Happy fall and back to school
C
Oh, I hate to read that you feel you failed… Really, I think it’s just in your mind, i.e. you set the bar too high. So what, it was a different kind of summer? I’m sure you had fun anyway and that you will end up having good memories of it–maybe not what you expected but hey, life happens…
I wish you a super-awesome fall season. Because you deserve it!
I hear ya! but you know, you did what you could and that’s good enough. Sometimes, that’s all you need – it doesn’t have to be awesome all the time. And we got to visit with you and that was pretty awesome! Hope we can do that again!!
(And you know my own family stuff failed back in April or May and I haven’t even thought about picking it up again so….)
Sending commiserating vibes!
word!
we had a very similar summer and I felt like a total failure.
However, if you ask my boys and husband how our summer was they would reply “awesome”! they loved it! so…. was it a failure? I guess not! the thing is life is changing.. the kids are getting older.. summers are awesome for different reasons.
I’m sure your kids would say that a Minecraft,& Lord of the Rings marathon = summer of awesome for them!
OK, story for you:
Last summer my nieces who live in BC were visiting us on the island. I suggested we all paddle across the bay and go around the small island in the mouth of the bay. We had to cobble together boats to fit everybody, so we set out in a canoe and a pedalboat.
About 300 metres into our adventure, the rudder fell off the pedalboat – no steering and no forward progress.
I ended up jumping in and swimming back to the dock to lighten the load, my dad and one of my boys used the canoe to tow the pedalboat back, and none of us got anywhere near the small island.
Other than thinking it was a dud, I forgot about it until my sister-in-law said my niece’s teacher got her to draw a picture of the best part of her summer, and she chose us in the bay, with the rudderless pedalboat, and the canoe, and me swimming, etc.
So, you just can’t guess what makes a “good” summer for somebody else! Your kids are probably very happy …